The state's attorney general asked the court last week to impose a restraining order stripping Rod Blagojevich of the bulk of his powers while considering her request to have him temporarily replaced by the state's lieutenant governor.

"In light of his arrest in the filing of the criminal complaint, Governor Blagojevich can no longer fulfill his official duties with any legitimacy," Lisa Madigan said Friday after filing the requests.

The court denied her request without comment, an order filed Wednesday showed.

Blagojevich has so far refused mounting calls to resign after he was arrested on December 9 amid an FBI investigation that accuses him of a staggering pattern of corruption, including refusing to free up funds for a children's hospital until he received a 50,000-dollar campaign contribution.

State legislators launched an inquiry Monday to determine if there were grounds for impeachment.

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